Professor Jiannong Cao, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 

Talk Title: Rethinking Security and Privacy in the Era of Pervasive Edge Intelligence

Abstract: In this talk, I examine how the growing scale of edge computing deployment and the deep coupling of cyber-physical domains reshape the security landscape, where cyberattacks are no longer confined to cyber spaces but manifest as kinetic physical consequences. I discuss how the integration of AI into edge environments creates persistent vulnerabilities, a challenge further amplified as Large Language Models (LLMs), autonomous agents, and embodied intelligence become embedded in resource-constrained devices. This expansion widens the attack surface across sensing, communication, computation, and actuation layers. I will outline a roadmap for building trustworthy intelligent ecosystems, highlighting critical research directions in resilient edge architectures, privacy-aware intelligence, and cross-layer defense strategies.

Biography: Professor Cao is currently the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Professor in Data Science, Chair Professor of Distributed and Mobile Computing in the Department of Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). He is also the Vice President (Education) and Director of the Institute for Higher Education Research and Development (IHERD) at PolyU.  He served as Head of the Department of Computing from 2011 to 2017, Dean of the Graduate School, and Head of the College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators (CURI) from 2021 to 2025, and the founding director of Research Institute for AIoT and University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics at PolyU. Professor Cao is a member of Academia Europaea, a fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering, a fellow of IEEE, a fellow of the CCF, and a distinguished member of the ACM.  He served as the Chair of the Technical Committee on Distributed Computing of the IEEE Computer Society from 2012 to 2014.  In 2017, he received the Overseas Outstanding Contribution Award from the China Computer Federation.